It doesn’t get any better than this…

Oh, and I only had to call about five minutes before I wanted my massage – no appointment needed!

I thought I was in paradise when we hired our wonderful maid, Lam Duang, back in August, but now I know I am…. And I can’t believe it took me this long to get my first massage at home! Everyone else has been talking about it for months. I think I’m going to have to make it a weekly ritual now…

It may sound strange, but I really am impressed and amazed at how well the Thai people understand foreigners. I am very used to moving to a new country and having to adapt to the local way of life. I haven’t been living in Bangkok long, but I am constantly surprised at how must the locals seem to know about me (and by “me” I mean Americans in general). I’ve never lived in a place where my needs were so carefully observed and so thoughtfully catered for.

Every day I’m impressed at the little things our local staff notice and comment on. For example, today one of our Instructional Aides asked me if light pink was my favorite color because she sees me wearing it often. She then proceeded to tell me how nice I look in pastel colors. This woman is one of about 40 IA’s we have in the Elementary School – she doesn’t specifically work with me, and I probably only see her in person about once a week.

Later in the day, my absolutely fabulous IA, Khun Wan, saw that I looked stressed out, gave me a short massage and proceeded to tell me about the benefits of regular massage and Thai medicine (which she is studying at the local university). And then, of course, the masseuse that came to my house today: Thai massage is not at all like your standard western massage (by which I really mean, Swedish massage), but this women not only did a fantastic combination of the two, but she was able to sense every tiny nook and cranny on my poor, stressed out back, that needed attention.

I know there have been, and will continue to be, cultural misunderstandings and little “life in Thailand” dilemmas that I get myself into (aren’t there always…) but I think this is going to be a pretty sweet place to live….

About

superkimbo has been living overseas since 2000 - the first five years in Munich, Germany, then two years in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and currently in Bangkok, Thailand. superkimbo enjoys the married life with the wonderful albtraum. Nosy? Read more about superkimbo here.